Joseph Esdin
Department of Life Sciences
AD
4.0
Overall Rating
Based on 64 Users
Easiness 2.8 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 4.3 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 3.0 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 4.3 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

TOP TAGS

  • Uses Slides
  • Engaging Lectures
  • Participation Matters
  • Gives Extra Credit
GRADE DISTRIBUTIONS
36.0%
30.0%
24.0%
18.0%
12.0%
6.0%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

25.1%
20.9%
16.7%
12.5%
8.4%
4.2%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

53.0%
44.1%
35.3%
26.5%
17.7%
8.8%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

29.9%
24.9%
19.9%
14.9%
10.0%
5.0%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

57.0%
47.5%
38.0%
28.5%
19.0%
9.5%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

62.6%
52.2%
41.8%
31.3%
20.9%
10.4%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

71.8%
59.9%
47.9%
35.9%
23.9%
12.0%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

40.6%
33.8%
27.1%
20.3%
13.5%
6.8%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

36.7%
30.6%
24.5%
18.4%
12.2%
6.1%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

30.3%
25.3%
20.2%
15.2%
10.1%
5.1%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

31.1%
25.9%
20.7%
15.5%
10.4%
5.2%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

30.4%
25.3%
20.2%
15.2%
10.1%
5.1%
0.0%
A+
A
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
D-
F

Grade distributions are collected using data from the UCLA Registrar’s Office.

ENROLLMENT DISTRIBUTIONS
Clear marks

Sorry, no enrollment data is available.

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Reviews (49)

5 of 5
5 of 5
Add your review...
Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: B-
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
March 20, 2020

Esdin is a pretty great professor. I took him when everything was going on with the super heavy rain and fires by the 405 along with the holidays. He was completely understanding about participation points by giving his students the clicker points when they didn't show up for those particular days. Yeah out of all my LS professors he was the best. :) Definitely take him if you have the chance.

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Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A
Feb. 24, 2020

Esdin is a great lecturer and you never have to guess what's on the exam. It's very straightforward what he wants of you from his lectures, clicker questions, and discussion worksheets. The homework helps somewhat, the questions are not too important but the reading is. Esdin is great at explaining class material and is very transparent and fair with grading. Exams are hard and requires you to think critically, but pay attention to discussion and the extra help hours and you'll be well off!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A
Dec. 25, 2019

Esdin is a very engaging professor and made lecture entertaining. For the exams, focus on the material and questions that he covers in lecture. The pictures and diagrams are super important and he normally also chooses a small section to cover from discussion. The questions seem simple but are not necessarily easy, averages for both midterms were 82-84. Make sure you do the launchpad and clicker questions for the additional points if you are looking to get an A. I got an 84, 84, then 90 percent and ended with a solid A because of discussion/launchpad/clicker points.

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Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: B+
Dec. 21, 2019

Challenging class, but the professor knows his stuff. Attend lecture to get the iClicker points and go to the mandatory discussion, because the tests borrow heavily from those. Everything else you can learn from the book.

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Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A-
Dec. 18, 2019

Understanding the diagrams and clicker questions is crucial. Unlike the other classes in the 7 series, I think attending lecture for this class is very helpful for the tests (especially the last three weeks when Launchpad is useless in terms of material, there's almost nothing on there). If you are considering Esdin, don't be discouraged if it is still an 8 a.m. lecture. He's a great professor and actually cares about his students. Also, take advantage of the small extra credit opportunities!

Helpful?

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Quarter: Spring 2019
Grade: B-
June 23, 2019

Esdin is an amazing professor and I'd recommend him to anyone. I absolutely enjoyed this class so much that it didn't bother me waking up early to go to his 8 a.m.
I know what you're thinking... "8 a.m.?!" It sounds bad, I know. However, he is worth it! Esdin is great and apart from the subject being super engaging so are his lectures.
If you've taken 7 A and B then you know how this class is structured. It's pretty much just composed of points. He was right because this is definitely the most interesting from the 7 series.
I 100% recommend Esdin to any 7C seeking student.

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Quarter: Spring 2018
Grade: A
June 19, 2019

Esdin is a decent teacher, but there's a lot of material to memorize. If you're interested in getting the answers to previous launchpad PEQs, PCRQs, and animations email me at *************

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Quarter: Winter 2019
Grade: A-
March 29, 2019

Esdin was highly recommended to me by other students. He taught half of 7C alongside Cooper. Esdin was a very clear professor who was extremely thorough with the material. He was also very encouraging even though our class did not do too well on the clicker questions during class. Like all of the other LS courses, the exams are multiple choice. Especially for 7C, the questions are hypothetical situations in which a part of the system is changed, and you need to determine if the effect is that something increases, decreases, or stays the same. The rest of the test is true or false questions, so it could get quite tricky. I would suggest studying the clicker questions and understanding the reasoning for each of them. The practice exam questions are sometimes helpful. The most important thing for this course is understanding all of the handouts and diagrams that they show you in class. Of all of the LS courses, I liked 7C the most because we learned about many of the systems in the body, which is definitely helpful for pre-med students. At the end of the course, you need to learn how to use Genome Browser, which is part of the unit about DNA and gene modification. Overall, I would highly recommend Esdin, especially if the course is taught solely by him.

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Quarter: Spring 2018
Grade: A
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
June 20, 2018

Writing for LS 7C, which I took in Spring 2018. He is not listed as an instructor so I post it here in LS 2. Esdin is a good professor but he is not exceptional. He has a mild accent but he is understandable. He structures his course like LS 7B, so you should be pretty familiar with how things will turn out. His tests are pretty hard, and despite what he claims, the tests are structured differently than other LS7 exams. They have many more true/false and "less than/equal to/greater than" questions and very few multiple choice questions. The average is usually 80 to 85%. He doesn't curve.
However, at the end of the year, he adds (to a maximum of 100% of that category's points, of course) 1 assignment's worth of points to each grading category (supposedly because you're allowed to miss 1 assignment of each category. That's not mentioned in the syllabus though.), which ultimately amounts to a mind-boggling amount of free points given.

Overall, pretty decent professor.

Edit (4/15/2019): LS7C is now a class taught by Esdin on Bruinwalk. I've edited this review to be in the proper class (was formerly in LS2)

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
COVID-19 This review was submitted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your experience may vary.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Fall 2020
Grade: B-
March 20, 2020

Esdin is a pretty great professor. I took him when everything was going on with the super heavy rain and fires by the 405 along with the holidays. He was completely understanding about participation points by giving his students the clicker points when they didn't show up for those particular days. Yeah out of all my LS professors he was the best. :) Definitely take him if you have the chance.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A
Feb. 24, 2020

Esdin is a great lecturer and you never have to guess what's on the exam. It's very straightforward what he wants of you from his lectures, clicker questions, and discussion worksheets. The homework helps somewhat, the questions are not too important but the reading is. Esdin is great at explaining class material and is very transparent and fair with grading. Exams are hard and requires you to think critically, but pay attention to discussion and the extra help hours and you'll be well off!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A
Dec. 25, 2019

Esdin is a very engaging professor and made lecture entertaining. For the exams, focus on the material and questions that he covers in lecture. The pictures and diagrams are super important and he normally also chooses a small section to cover from discussion. The questions seem simple but are not necessarily easy, averages for both midterms were 82-84. Make sure you do the launchpad and clicker questions for the additional points if you are looking to get an A. I got an 84, 84, then 90 percent and ended with a solid A because of discussion/launchpad/clicker points.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: B+
Dec. 21, 2019

Challenging class, but the professor knows his stuff. Attend lecture to get the iClicker points and go to the mandatory discussion, because the tests borrow heavily from those. Everything else you can learn from the book.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Fall 2019
Grade: A-
Dec. 18, 2019

Understanding the diagrams and clicker questions is crucial. Unlike the other classes in the 7 series, I think attending lecture for this class is very helpful for the tests (especially the last three weeks when Launchpad is useless in terms of material, there's almost nothing on there). If you are considering Esdin, don't be discouraged if it is still an 8 a.m. lecture. He's a great professor and actually cares about his students. Also, take advantage of the small extra credit opportunities!

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Spring 2019
Grade: B-
June 23, 2019

Esdin is an amazing professor and I'd recommend him to anyone. I absolutely enjoyed this class so much that it didn't bother me waking up early to go to his 8 a.m.
I know what you're thinking... "8 a.m.?!" It sounds bad, I know. However, he is worth it! Esdin is great and apart from the subject being super engaging so are his lectures.
If you've taken 7 A and B then you know how this class is structured. It's pretty much just composed of points. He was right because this is definitely the most interesting from the 7 series.
I 100% recommend Esdin to any 7C seeking student.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Spring 2018
Grade: A
June 19, 2019

Esdin is a decent teacher, but there's a lot of material to memorize. If you're interested in getting the answers to previous launchpad PEQs, PCRQs, and animations email me at *************

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Quarter: Winter 2019
Grade: A-
March 29, 2019

Esdin was highly recommended to me by other students. He taught half of 7C alongside Cooper. Esdin was a very clear professor who was extremely thorough with the material. He was also very encouraging even though our class did not do too well on the clicker questions during class. Like all of the other LS courses, the exams are multiple choice. Especially for 7C, the questions are hypothetical situations in which a part of the system is changed, and you need to determine if the effect is that something increases, decreases, or stays the same. The rest of the test is true or false questions, so it could get quite tricky. I would suggest studying the clicker questions and understanding the reasoning for each of them. The practice exam questions are sometimes helpful. The most important thing for this course is understanding all of the handouts and diagrams that they show you in class. Of all of the LS courses, I liked 7C the most because we learned about many of the systems in the body, which is definitely helpful for pre-med students. At the end of the course, you need to learn how to use Genome Browser, which is part of the unit about DNA and gene modification. Overall, I would highly recommend Esdin, especially if the course is taught solely by him.

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
Verified Reviewer This user is a verified UCLA student/alum.
Quarter: Spring 2018
Grade: A
June 20, 2018

Writing for LS 7C, which I took in Spring 2018. He is not listed as an instructor so I post it here in LS 2. Esdin is a good professor but he is not exceptional. He has a mild accent but he is understandable. He structures his course like LS 7B, so you should be pretty familiar with how things will turn out. His tests are pretty hard, and despite what he claims, the tests are structured differently than other LS7 exams. They have many more true/false and "less than/equal to/greater than" questions and very few multiple choice questions. The average is usually 80 to 85%. He doesn't curve.
However, at the end of the year, he adds (to a maximum of 100% of that category's points, of course) 1 assignment's worth of points to each grading category (supposedly because you're allowed to miss 1 assignment of each category. That's not mentioned in the syllabus though.), which ultimately amounts to a mind-boggling amount of free points given.

Overall, pretty decent professor.

Edit (4/15/2019): LS7C is now a class taught by Esdin on Bruinwalk. I've edited this review to be in the proper class (was formerly in LS2)

Helpful?

0 0 Please log in to provide feedback.
5 of 5
4.0
Overall Rating
Based on 64 Users
Easiness 2.8 / 5 How easy the class is, 1 being extremely difficult and 5 being easy peasy.
Clarity 4.3 / 5 How clear the class is, 1 being extremely unclear and 5 being very clear.
Workload 3.0 / 5 How much workload the class is, 1 being extremely heavy and 5 being extremely light.
Helpfulness 4.3 / 5 How helpful the class is, 1 being not helpful at all and 5 being extremely helpful.

TOP TAGS

  • Uses Slides
    (34)
  • Engaging Lectures
    (32)
  • Participation Matters
    (30)
  • Gives Extra Credit
    (29)
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